Minority group is a social group within a population which is discriminated against on basis of a certain social bias. It is a category in a demography which is differentiated by the majority who hold big seats in the society. This majority has powers over the minority as granted by the biased social division. The social bias can be based on different social characteristics such as: ethnicity, race, gender and sex (Michael 2008).
Minority group are treated differently from majority and in most cases, they are denied their rights and freedom in their societies. Gilman used a short story entitled ”The Yellow wallpaper” to explain how people treated women physically in the society and on health matters. According to her, women are subjected to different problems in the societies they live.
Secondly, women are not given equal opportunities in job allocation. According to Gilman, this makes women dependent on men for their survival. They were not given jobs and political seats by the time she was writing the book. Even today, women are not given equal opportunities in places of work. In some places where they are given some work, they are overworked and are poorly paid. According to Gilman, due to poor earnings, women pay for their debts through domestic services or “sex- functions”. This form of payment comes into play when they lack any alternative in earning any income. However nasty this may appear and feel, it is still happening even in this 21st century. Women duties are also directly controlled by men. In real sense, most women can work harder than men and deliver better. They can also work for long hours compared to some men. This sex discrimination leads to poor distribution of power and poor leadership because men think they are the only ones who can deliver (male chauvinism) (Gilman 2009).
These obstacles have made women to trail far much behind their male counterparts. This practice is still present in the modern generation because it is has been viewed that women should not work or run any income generating project but they are only nurturers and domestic workers. According to Gilman’s view, women have dual roles of mother and caretakers. They pass these roles to their children. She argues that women are the only unpaid people in the society. In turn this has led women to be less creative.
Women are not given leadership posts. In today’s politics, women appear to be discriminated against by political constitutions and even people appear unwilling to elect them. This has been happening and that is why there are few women who are politicians. Most of them decide not to vie for any seat because the society takes them as incapable of leadership. Those who have courage face many challenges during the time of campaign and nomination. People give them abusive names and in most cases the number of people who attend their meeting is less compared to the number attending meetings hosted by their male counterparts. The number of women who are given ministerial positions is still low. This gives men a chance to continue oppressing them because of their no as once they try to file bill which is concerning their issues, they are outnumbered by men. This is the greatest challenge they are having today (male dominance).
Women who come from poor background are having many children compared to those who come from rich families. They are unable to cater for these children because they are unemployed. Their husbands run away from their social responsibility leaving women with these children all in the name of job seeking. Such women have to provide medical attention, education, food, shelter and security to their offspring (Martin 2008). Most of these children don’t get access to education leading to continuation of poor generation in a society. When they go to seek health services even from government hospitals, they are served last and in some cases they fail to get services. Majorities are served first and if time is off, minorities are told to come the following day. This is the reason why there is high death rate in poor families compared to rich families (majority). According to Gilman, rich women who can afford to feed their children have fewer children than poor women who cannot afford to pay for their services a thing she expected to be vice versa.
Women enrolled in education institutions are very few. This is the reason why we have less number of educated women in the society especially in the developing countries (Gilman 2009). This number can be raised if we give women more chances of accessing educational institutions and financing their studies Women are also subjected to sexual harassment in places of work and in schools. Raping cases are at high level now days putting women into a dangerous life.
In conclusion, women have been subjected to difficult kind of life and these should be stopped so that we can raise their standards of living. Believes that it’s only men who can provide should be forgotten and give women chances of working for their own good and that of the family. More political sits should be preserved for women because most of them are working more than men.
References
1. Michael K, 2008, “Introduction” to Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Women and Economics. Berkeley: University of California Press.
2. Gilman, C, 2009, "The Yellow Wallpaper." The Omnibus of 20th Century Ghost Stories. Ed. Robert Phillips. New York: Carrol and Graf Publishers Inc.
